Does anyone know anything about the infamous court case in 1970 that supposedly settled the argument of who invented Mai Tai? All I can find is people citing that it happened and that Vic won, but I can't find any details on it. It almost feels like an urban legend.
_________________"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

I couldn't find anything on an out of court settlement either. Only that Yul Brenner settled out of court in the 70s after he sued TV's for getting trichinosis from the spare ribs!
_________________"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

DTB served a drink at one time called a Mai Tai -- but it was nothing like the one Vic served. DTB also served a drink called the QB Cooler that tasted kinda like a Mai Tai -- but had completely different ingredients.

So although DTB liked to claim he invented it, there's really no reason to think he actually did.

The Zombie, on the other hand, was all Don's.
_________________David J. Montgomery
Professor Cocktail

But that early Donn Beach cocktail was no longer on the menu within a few short years. A claim that that early drink that happened to have 'Mai Tai' in the name had anything to do with the original TV Mai Tai is very tenuous.

IMO comparing the 3 is a bit like comparing a diaquiri / caprihna / ti punch or Pina Colada / Painkiller / Coconut - i.e. they have similarities & similar ingredients but they are different - try them all & then have what you fancy!

Plus Donn's drink was named the Mai Tai Swizzle. Trader Vic's Mai Tai has completely different ingredients, tastes very different (and far better), is not swizzled and was born 10 years and 650 miles from Donn Beach's failed cocktail.

If anyone really thinks Trader Vic was in the habit of copying Donn's drinks make the Zombie recipe printed in the Trader Vic 1944 Life Magazine article. It tastes nothing like Donn's Zombies (any variation) and is the worst Zombie I've ever had. Besides the Zombie, do you see any other Donn the Beachcomber drinks on Trader Vic's menu?

Donn's Mai Tai Swizzle lasted only a short while on his menu and was not popular. Of the 70 plus drinks Donn created it may be that the QB Cooler tastes closest to a Trader Vic Mai Tai, just chance. If you've had any experience making hundreds of cocktail recipes you will always encounter similarities between them. There is no doubt that Trader Vic created the Mai Tai that took the world by storm. It's simpler and tastes far better than either the Mai Tai Swizzle or the QB Cooler. That Donn would try to lay claim to that Mai Tai is just sad.

The more pertinent question is "Did Trader Vic ever claim to have created the Navy Grog?" Instead of making unfounded claims he heaped accolades on Donn Beach in his "Ode to Rum" (on the back of his vintage cocktail menus) and even wrote in his autobiography of buying some decor from him. The Trader gave credit where credit was due so you can be sure when he says he created the Mai Tai that it was his own creation.